


to reign, to die

by saiditallbefore



Category: Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Ambition, Caves, Character Study, Dathomir, Gen, Introspection, Sith Qi'ra
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-08-08 06:00:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16423763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saiditallbefore/pseuds/saiditallbefore
Summary: On Dathomir, Qi’ra seeks a path forward.





	to reign, to die

**Author's Note:**

> Title comes from _Ambition_ by Peter John Allan.

Qi’ra pulled her cloak around herself more tightly as she picked her way up the winding mountain path. A persistent fog hung in the air, refusing to burn away. To Qi’ra, it seemed to make the entire damned planet damp and chilly.

Unbidden thoughts— longing for her rooms on the _First Light_ — sprung into her head, but Qi’ra ruthlessly shoved those thoughts aside. She hadn’t clawed her way to the top only to be consumed by a love of creature comforts. 

Of all the places in the sith-forsaken galaxy, Maul had insisted that they meet on bloody _Dathomir_. He’d claimed it was necessary to help her develop the powers— The Force— he insisted she had.

Qi’ra wasn’t entirely sure if she believed him about that. About any of it. She hadn’t risen to her station in life by succumbing to a belief in some ancient mysticism— but she also couldn’t deny that Maul had abilities like she’d never seen before.

But if he was right— if the Force was hers to command— then she _would_ master it. 

That was why she was here, climbing a mountain as the light faded and the air turned chill. Maul’s directions had been vague at best, but he’d insisted that she needed to find some cave where the Force had a strong presence. 

Qi’ra had passed half a dozen caves on her way up the mountain, but none of them matched the (admittedly vague) description Maul had given her. She came to yet another cave, and paused. It was growing dark, and it was hard to tell if it _looked_ right, but it _felt_ right. If she were more fanciful, Qi’ra might have said that something in the cave was calling to her. 

She stepped inside. The cave was deeper than she’d anticipated: a curving tunnel that disappeared into pitch blackness.

She didn’t have a light— Maul hadn’t offered, and Qi’ra hadn’t asked. Anything at all could be hiding in that cave— Dathomir had more than its share of predators.

But Qi’ra hadn’t come this far only to turn back now. She walked forward, into the dark. She would find whatever was on the other side, and she would emerge stronger— just as she always had.


End file.
